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ABC's 'Scandal' - Season Five

Source: Kevin Estrada / Getty

Friendly reminder: Quinn is still missing. In fact, tonight’s episode of Scandal starts with Quinn getting snatched up. And all of the gladiators are freaked out. They’re still looking for her, but the hope is waning. Jake tells Olivia that he’s struggling to find anything viable and that whoever took her was good. Olivia gives him a Pope speech and tells him he needs to be better!

Eventually, Olivia’s father calls her to dinner. He tells her that he has Quinn and she’s alive. He won’t tell Olivia where Quinn is, but Eli says that Quinn is the reckoning that he told her would come. Quinn is the one person who can take Olivia down and also someone that Olivia wouldn’t kill, and the ticket to his freedom. He wants his dinosaur back (the bones Olivia took earlier in the season to be petty) and his freedom in exchange for Quinn, or he’ll kill her. This doesn’t scare Olivia. She calls his bluff and says he won’t hurt a hair on Quinn’s head until she says so, you know how she gets with the psychological warfare. Then she tells him to stay put and wait to be told what to do. Papa Pope says he’s not bluffing, and Olivia tells him never to waste her time again.

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Jake wants to know what the next move is going to be, but Olivia tells him to do nothing. Jake isn’t convinced that Rowan Pope is bluffing, but Olivia thinks he is and wants to wait it out. Hopefully, her ego doesn’t get Quinn and Baby Gladiator killed. Later on, Jake has a private meeting with Rowan Pope and begs him not to underestimate Olivia. Rowan is still being stubborn. He refuses to back down, but Jake did at least take away his arsenal of weapons (so he thinks). Olivia is pissed at Jake for doing this, but Jake is annoyed with her for underestimating her father.

Olivia’s assistant goes to Curtis Price (the journo Olivia had a fling with) and says she has info about the assassination of President Rashad, but if she drops dime then Olivia can’t know she told him.

And then we see Olivia paying her mother a visit. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Mama Pope cracks up laughing when Olivia tells her that Eli kidnapped Quinn (because she’s sick), but Olivia asks for her help anyway (she’s that desperate). Mama Pope wants to know what she’s getting out of this deal and Olivia says, “You can either be my mother, or a b–ch. What’s it gonna be?” Mama Pope ain’t stupid. She knows Quinn must have something on Olivia, and gets all up in Olivia’s head. She tells Olivia that all her problems go away if Quinn dies. It’s an alluring thought that Olivia is afraid to admit to herself, but Maya tells Olivia to let Quinn die. Basically, “Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.” If she is the leader of command like she says she is, then she’ll understand that some things are necessary, like the death of Quinn and her baby, to keep her in charge and in control.

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Remember that assistant that went to Curtis? Well, now we see her on the phone with Jake, letting him know that it’s done. Curtis is dead. Once the news about Curtis’ death breaks, Jake visits Olivia and asks her if she heard. Lordt. Jake made a call that Liv didn’t authorize so you already know it’s going to come back to him. Also in this scene, Jake and Olivia drink wine and chat about their dysfunctional jobs. Olivia admits that hiding is exhausting. Jake reminds her that the clock runs out tomorrow and she needs to figure out what she’s going to tell her father. Olivia says she can’t let Quinn die. Jake tells her to just give Rowan his bones back, but Olivia is tired of giving in to him. She hates that he has this theory that he can control her by kidnapping her friends. Today it’s the bones, tomorrow it’s the White House. Jake tells her that she doesn’t get to have it all and that maybe it’s time to kill her father. Olivia tells him to leave, and he asks her one important question, “Are you command, or are you not?”

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The time has run out and Olivia goes to her father’s place. He gives her the ultimatum again. Olivia doesn’t take the bait. Rowan tells her that she won’t be able to live with Quinn and the baby’s blood on her hands. He points the gun at Olivia’s head and she dares him to pull it since she’s the real problem anyway.Rowan doesn’t pull the trigger, so she tells him if he can’t kill her then he has no legs to stand on. He still threatens to kill Quinn and says that if Olivia had a soul then she wouldn’t allow this death to happen. So, Olivia then puts a hit out on her father, in front of him. B613 will kill him in 20 minutes. Rowan says he will kill Quinn. Then Olivia tells him how he lied to her growing up and is always taking things she loves (like Fitz, and killing Fitz’s son, Harrison, etc) and tries to convince him that she can live with Quinn’s death and that he either kill Quinn or let her go. Olivia is a monster but doesn’t even know it yet. Rowan still thinks she’s bluffing. Olivia says she’s not and that if Quinn has to die for the republic so be it. They go back and forth playing chess with each other until Rowan walks away and we hear a shot, then we hear Quinn yelling, “Please!” and then we hear another shot, and silence. Olivia freaks out but pulls it together when he comes back and asks her if she wants to see the body.

AND NOW WE HAVE TO WAIT TWO WEEKS UNTIL WE SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

But uh…Quinn is probably dead. Yes. This really happened.

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‘Scandal’ Recap: Can Olivia Live With Quinn’s Blood On Her Hands?  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com